NHL realignment includes four divisions, wild card teams

The National Hockey League's new realignment plan, being worked on with the NHL Players' Association, includes four divisions in two conferences with wild-card spots for the playoffs.

The plan was laid out in a league memo that was sent to all 30 teams on Tuesday and obtained by TSN.

Instead of going to four conferences as was the original plan in December 2011, the new plan calls for two conferences containing two divisions each.

Western Conference

Eastern Conference

Pacific

Mid-West

Central

Atlantic

Anaheim

Chicago

Boston

Carolina

Calgary

Colorado

Buffalo

Columbus

Edmonton

Dallas

Detroit

New Jersey

Los Angeles

Minnesota

Florida

NY Islanders

Phoenix

Nashville

Montreal

NY Rangers

San Jose

St. Louis

Ottawa

Philadelphia

Vancouver

Winnipeg

Tampa Bay

Pittsburgh

-

-

Toronto

Washington

The playoff format calls for the top three teams in each division to earn post-season berths. The remaining four spots would go to wild-card teams, the top two records remaining in each conference. That means there's a possibility five teams make it from one division and only three from another.

It would be divisional playoffs, not conference playoffs, so 1 vs. 4, 2 vs 3 in the first round. The two fourth seeds would be made up of the wild-card teams. The top division winner based on regular-season points in the standings would face off against the lower-ranked wild-card team. The other division winner would play the higher-ranked wild-card.